IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. (KGTV) — A local food pantry not only feeds San Diegans, but also empowers them to make healthy choices.
For Regina Gamboa, the Magnolia Project food pantry is more than just her passion. It’s become her life. It all started 15 years ago, when she decided to make soup and bring bread to those who were homeless in the South Bay.
A meeting with one woman especially caught her attention.
“When she grabbed the roll and her fingers were dirtier than the floor. And it just touched me,“ Gamboa says.
After that, Gamboa knew she wanted to do more. She began brainstorming about how she could teach people about nutrition and wellness, something she’s familiar with after having worked as a nurse for years.
She wanted to find ways to give people healthy food and teach them how to cook it.
“We want to tell you 'Quit eating the potato chips. It's killing you,'" she says. "We want you to get vegetables and fresh produce that you maybe can't afford, and we want you to come into our kitchen to prepare it.”
And that’s where the Magnolia Project, known as the people’s choice pantry, came to life. When you walk into the pantry in Imperial Beach, it has a country store feel, offering specialty health items, cooking products, and even toiletries for free.
It caters to those who need it — primarily senior citizens, those who are homeless, and ,lately, college students.
While it’s tough balancing life, taking care of her daughter and keeping Magnolia running, Gamboa says she knows deep inside this is what she was meant to do: Giving her family a chance to give back to the community they’ve called home for decades, while reaching people on an individual and personal level.
“I want that one on one with each other. I want to know their names," she says. "I want to know why are you here on the streets. Or if you're a family I want to know I can't give you peanuts because your children are allergic to them.”
